The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-17
CHORUS GIRLS.
Few of Them Who Are Making Consider.
able Stir in tho World.

New York sun IA
''There is no earthly reason" said a well-known
theatrical manager yesterday. why any body
should express surprise over the fact that Nine
De Belleville as she calls herself should turn up
il the cable dispatches all over the world as a
subject of international interest"
''Whyp
Because there is absolutely no limit to the
possibilities and capab ilites of the chorus girl
Her future is absolutely beyond the reach of
prophecy. Take this girl who calls herself Nine
De Belleville for instance. She is Of German
descent and her name is Pnerner. She has
black eyes, an expressive mouth. and an
i've brain. She came here with no knowledge
into the chorus of the Thalia Theatre. and
was sent out with the road-company because
she didn't amount to enough to stay in New
York. One night in a beer garden in st.
Louis, she fell In with rather remarkable
man. He is big stalwart ana handsome, and
he has great reputation among women. He
has figured in the papers several times, and one
or two women have died after tessrying their
devotion to him. This Frederick de Belle
vile. the actor. The little German chorus girl
fell IN love with him offhand, and made such
extraordinary overtures TO him that she amused
him. When he went on tour he took her with
him. Under the guidance and dlscrimin attn 2
tastes of o Frenchman, man of the world and q
chorus girl improved. She learned to carry her
self so that the points of her fgure-she really
had some-showed to the best advantage. She
learned to speak French from her companion,
to whom she insisted she was legally married
They separated after a time, and the girl disap-
peared. In a year she had bossomed into a
finished and clever woman of the world. 1t is
wonderful metamorphosis, and people OCCASION
ally asked each other what had become of her.
1T turned out that she had gone to Berlin,
ana that she had been setting the town aeog
there to such an extent that the day before yes
terday she was banshed by the imperial govern
ment. woman must amount to something to
achieve this distinction in Berlin. and it is evil
dent that half the truth has not been told In the
havoc the ex-chorus girl has been playing with
the hearts of some of the great dignitariss of
Germany. The heroine of all this is still girl,
and there is no telling what her future may
amount to. Il seems to be pretty well conceded.
however, that she will one day set the world by
the ears again. 1t is not to be wondered at tn at
women turn toward the chorus at times with
an instructive belief in its possibilities.
Take Pauline Hall, for instance. At prose ut
she is absolutely the queen of the comic opera
stage Sadie Martinez has retired to Paris, wher q
she is living sumptuously, and Lillian, Russell is
regarded as bit passe. Yet whom Pauline
Hall came here she was about as uncouth a
specimen Of young womauhood as ever saw o n
the stage. Her name Scmitgall. aud she
looked it She had just come from Cincinnati,
and she was in the chorus in some spectacular
piece in Nlblos Garden. l was on the stage
with Gilmore for some reason or other and we
had a little talk with her. She was in tights
and she was about as handsome a looking Great
urs as l have ever seen on ths stage. She had
not grown stout then, and she was simply a
vision of beauty. Her figure was faultless. She
did not seem to know much. and. although sever
al efforts were made to push her ahead. she
lacked, for some reason or other, the necessary
snap Suddenly, one day. she shot up like a
rocket, and she has been going up ever Gnce
She learned how to use her magnificent Voice
properly, and she studied hard. Now she has
diamonds carriages, horses. dogs. and maids
galore. She lives like the traditional society
queen and enjoys q very large salary.
Another instance of the rocket-like rise OF
chorus girl" continued the manager, sis Miss
Belle Urquhardt at the Casino 1 sat in a box
at that theater some three years ago with Mr..
Aronson and he pointed out one of the girls in
a march to me, and asked me il I knew her. He
said that his attention had been called to her by
several people; and that she wonderfully
ambitious. taking dancing lessons from Marwie.
elocution from George Edgar. and singing from
Maretzec She spends her money that way. he
said. instead of in diamonds. To-day she is
very the top of the ladder, lives in fine
style, and is one of the most widely photographed
women the stage She is graceful, hand
some. and distinguished, and it is all the result
of about three years intense application, coupled
with knowledge of the world and fnesse. Since
Edith Kingdom married George Gould and Mrs.
Potter has taken to the stage in earnest the
field is acknowledged to be wide open to that
most enterprisne of creatures, the great North
America chorus girl"